


An Impossible Request

by kirigaku



Series: Before Mor Dhona: Journey to the West [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: A Doman Refugee Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26281126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kirigaku/pseuds/kirigaku
Summary: As the XIIth Legion marches closer and closer to the Doman capital, Yugiri Mistwalker has been tasked by Lord Hien to marshal the shinobi under her command and organize a general evacuation of the capital region by sea.Tired and run down to her last onze of energy, she inspects the grounds and and hears reports from her fellow ninja.My third entry for the #FFXIVWrite2020 / #FFXIVWrite challenge, with "Muster" being the prompt.
Series: Before Mor Dhona: Journey to the West [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1916425
Kudos: 4
Collections: #FFxivWrite2020 Final Fantasy 30 Day Writing Challenge





	An Impossible Request

As she ran down the wide, stone-paved streets of Doma’s merchant quarter, Yugiri Mistwalker was beginning to consider that her liege, the crown prince Hien Rijin, had asked of her an impossible request.

She had been recalled from the rapidly deteriorating front in the west at Hien’s request. When she arrived at the capital, her shadowed violet garb was haggard with tears and splatters of blood, and the steel rings of her armor caked in dried mud. For the full four days of fierce fighting between the Doman Liberation Front and the XIIth Legion, the Raen had been commanding her unit and taking the field without a moment of rest.

The tireless shinobi was in this sorry state when Lord Hien asked his most trusted retainer to fulfill one final mission for him: assemble and organize a general evacuation for the people of the Doman capital. Under the XIIth Legion’s merciless assault, the Kingdom of Doma was sure to fall. If Yanxia was fated to be crushed under the Garlean heel, Hien had hopes that somewhere on this star, there would be somewhere where his people could be free and stand proud, no matter how foreign or distant that place was.

And for that purpose, he bestowed upon Yugiri a multitude of powers, so that every onze of Doma’s strength not devoted to fighting back the Imperials would be devoted fully towards the evacuation.

But Yugiri, driven wide awake by a combination of righteous determination, desperation, and frequent doses of lukewarm tea, was beginning to fear that it would not be enough.

The most evident problem was that in the two days since she had taken command of the evacuation efforts, civil order in the Doman capital had reached its breaking point. While the Garleans were anything but honorable during their first Yanxian campaign, they had focused their assaults upon military targets, seeking to preserve the rich country’s extensive infrastructure and wealth for exploitation. But now that the Empire sought to punish the rebellion of the Doman Liberation Front, the horrors of the last two and a half decades paled in comparison to the barbarity and atrocities inflicted on the people by Zenos yae Galvus and his XIIth Legion. 

Garlemald had declared war without mercy on Doma, bombarding fortified strongholds and defenseless towns at a whim. Surrender was acknowledged only when the Centurions were in a healthy mood - and they rarely were. Liberation Front rebels and their supporters were executed without a word - as were their families, up to two generations.

Stories of defeat and slaughter in the Kingdom’s outlying prefectures spread to the capital, carried by the crowds of destitute refugees displaced by the violence. Discipline was breaking down, and panic ruled on the rubble strewn streets. The people were being asked to abandon everything they had left, and that was not always a simple request.

As she approached her destination at the merchant docks, Yugiri’s horns reverberated with the sounds of a furious argument. One of the voices was very familiar to her, and she stepped in to intervene.

One of her subordinates charged with marshalling the citizenry, Higiri Oshiga, was having a shouting match with a tall Roegadyn woman, dressed in the traditional deep blue robes and black cap of a scholar. She had a rather large pack of belongings, and was dragging behind her a wheeled cart laden with a fully-shelved bookcase, and a well-cared-for bronze statue of a brilliantly-plumed bird wreathed in flame. 

“Madam, you… you must understand!,” the beleaguered Hyuran shinobi shouted as an order, but the exhausted faltering in her voice gave it a tone more akin to pleading. “There simply will not be room for your belongings in the holds of our ships! We are already struggling to accommodate enough provisions for all the passengers!”

The scholar glared at Higiri, and bellowed out her frustrations. “You can not be serious! I risked my life to hide this statue and these texts from those godless Imperials! They are all that remains of Suzaku’s southern shrine… I can not forsake them!”

With careful, imperceptible steps, Yugiri approached behind the Shinobi, and addressed her with a sharp, uncompromising tone. “My friend here speaks nothing but the reality,” Yugiri said as she walked in front of the scholar. “We are in no position to save anything but our lives. Go to your assigned staging area, leave these at the loading area, and we shall bring them if there is room. But I will not make a promise.”

The scholar froze as her eyes were drawn to Yugiri’s face. Although the shinobi had little notoriety or reputation in her clandestine service to Hien, by now, all in Doma city knew the woman who promised to deliver them to safety. “B-but… Lady Yugiri…”

“If you take issue with this, then I invite you to gamble your chances with your books in the mountains,” she responded coldly. “I can not abide anything that may harm our chances of success. We have room only for our necessary supplies. That is all.” 

Without another word, she abandoned the scholar in the streets where she stood to make her point, gesturing for her subordinate to follow.

“I appreciate your help there, Lady Yugiri,” her junior shinobi spoke quietly. “I wish I had your strength and will. I apologize for failing to stand up for… for...”

As the young-faced Hyur choked back a silent sob, Yugiri placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder. Higiri was only a genin, a novice shinobi, when she was called into battle under her command. Together, they had seen enough bloodshed and said goodbye to many comrades in the past few days of conflict. Perhaps the weight of saving her world was finally weighing her friend down.

“I understand completely,” the Raen responded with a soft smile. “The people are being asked to sacrifice much. It can be difficult to reason with someone who is already desperate. Do you need some rest?”

The Hyur sighed, then stood straight, shaking her head. She pounded her first into her open palm and bowed her head. “N-not at all. The Garleans will not wait patiently for me to take any breaks.I shall continue rousing the stragglers, per your orders.” Exhausted she may have been, but the gravity of the situation demanded action. 

Yugiri gave her subordinate an approving nod. “I appreciate your conviction. Report to me at the docks if you run into any more issues.”

With a hearty affirmative cry, the Hyur bowed again and made for the residential quarter at a rapid pace. Yugiri, alone once more, continued moving towards the merchant docks. Enough precious time was spent here, and needed to inspect the evacuation proceedings for herself.

Reaching the height of the stairs leading downwards to the docks, the shinobi had a clear vantage point over the entire river port. The skies were devoid of clouds and the morning fog of the One River had already cleared. As such, her keen eyes could even take glances at other shores, mainly the docks of Monzen and the shores of the Yuzuka Clan holdings.

The sizable river port of the Enclave, and its two more modest sister dockyards on the opposite shore, were packed to their limit. Hundreds, nay, thousands of people gathered and pushed themselves into the docks. Only through gargantuan effort of her agents and the handful of Hien’s soldiers assigned to maintain order and protect the evacuation were the crowds kept relatively calm, and in somewhat orderly lines.

Descending to the piers, Yugiri marched herself through the crowds, while the voices and whispers of Doma gathered around her. Mothers comforted crying children, who did not truly understand the journey they would be making. The faithful gathered to pray and make offerings to the kami, to the auspices, and to the will of Heaven itself. Far too many people desperately searched the lines, with clothes dirtied and sandals missing, shouting the names of loved ones and companions they hoped to reunite with here.

Navigating her way ahead of the crowd, she reached the end of the primary pier, walking past the collection of tribute ships, trade vessels, and fishing boats that were requisitioned for the evacuation fleet. Yugiri spied the two people she was searching for, speaking with each other at the far end of the pier under a swaying paper lantern.

“Oboro! Tsubame!”, she hailed as she stepped over to join her fellow veterans. “It seems you are both managing things well here. Do you have anything new to report?”

“Lady Yugiri!”, the two dark-haired Hyur replied simultaneously, performing the Doman salute by striking their left palms with their fists and bowing their heads. Then, they looked at each other, as if mentally drawing lots on who would report first.

After a second passed, Oboro awkwardly raised his hand. “Lady Yugiri, I believe it’s best I begin with the ill tidings.”

“Go on.”

“With regards to the _Haeseong_ , the warship that Lord Hien requested be reassigned to aid our efforts... there's an issue with the crew. Yes, the crew. They’ve mutinied.”

“Pardon me, they mutinied?” Yugiri’s mouth hung open, her mood incredulous. “They would defy the will of Lord Hien himself?” 

Yugiri sensed something wrong however, and quickly glanced at the waters of the One River. She spied a tall, box-shaped vessel of reinforced pine. The fine square sails, multiple cannon ports, and watchtower-like captain’s platform over the deck was a traditional naval design. The vessel idled beneath the towering arch of the Dairyu Moon Gates. Carried by the winds, the banner of the frontier city of Haeseong flew next to the verdant green royal standard of Doma. And according to the characters carved on the wooden nameplate, it was the ship in question.

“Oboro, is that not the _Haeseong_ there on the water? If the crew has mutinied, they are making a rather poor show of it,” Yugiri asked, awaiting an explanation.

“Perhaps ‘mutiny’ was a strong word,” Oboro replied, scratching the back of his head. “But they’ve refused to act as requested, and are asking you and Lord Hien to reconsider the necessity of the order. Most of the ship’s crew are from the Kingdom’s northern frontier provinces, malms and malms away from here. The sailors are pleading… or really, begging, that they be allowed to return home before the Garleans reach the north, so that they can have a chance to save their own families.”

Yugiri sighed deeply, shaking her head. “We are all being asked to make sacrifices today. They may be acting out of line as warriors of the realm... but perhaps some things are too much to ask.” She pondered her next step here, but she expected a large headache soon. “I shall meet with them personally to negotiate after this report, then. Oboro, you’ll be going with me.”

“Of course, Lady Yugiri.”  
The Raen turned her gaze towards Tsubame expectantly, hoping that she would have better news.

Picking up on her superior’s intent, Tsubame began her report quickly and calmly. “The issue with the _Haeseong_ aside, the loading and assignment of evacuees to the other ships is going faster than expected. We may yet be gone before the main legionary forces arrive. In fact, the _Qinglong_ and _Ganen the Great_ are at capacity, and are ready to depart with your order.”

“Have them depart at once. If they tarry here, they risk being caught by the Imperial bombing runs targeting the castle. The staging ground downriver is more secure.”

“I’ll follow your order, Lady Yugiri. But there is one more matter. In regards to the smaller vessels we have already sent towards the Ruby Sea, people from the surrounding rural villages have been climbing up the bridges spanning the One River, and leaping onto them to escape. There have already been several injuries, and a few narrowly avoided drownings.” 

Yugiri’s eyes widened as she realized the magnitude of the issue. “The height between those bridges and those decks are at least a story or two. The people must be truly desperate to board if they are taking such risks.” 

Tsubame frowned, closing her eyes. “I do not think it is surprising, Lady Yugiri. Once the evacuation orders were issued here in the capital, word spread quickly to the countryside. Even those that have no hope of making it here to Doma city in time… they still see the evacuation as their only hope of safety and a new life. They see us… no, they see you, as their only hope.”

Yugiri swallowed, taking in what her comrade just said. and felt herself compelled to turn around at the crowds of citizens behind her. She saw what felt like ten thousand eyes looking back at her. All of Doma saw her running herself to the ground leading the evacuation, and so wherever she went, the people’s attention and admiration followed.

Their hopes may be placed too high, Yugiri believed. She suspected strongly that the closest nations that could potentially shelter Doman refugees, Hingashi and Radz-at-Han, would not be very eager to take them in. All too well, she remembered her own home and her own people under the Ruby Sea, who believed by staying under notice and out of the way of the Empire, they would be left alone. She would do her best to negotiate asylum, but who could say that those nations would be more charitable than those who banished her? And if the Hingans and Thavnairians rejected them, there were few options left.

As Yugiri saw all the men, women, and children huddled along the ports and shores of the One River, she breathed in and out slowly. Then, she finally turned back to Tsubame. “If we have any boats available, recruit volunteers from among the citizenry to sail them downriver and offer to allow the villagefolk to board safely. If they keep jumping from the bridges, I see only further tragedy to come from it.”

“Right away, Lady Yugiri!”

“Thank you, Tsubame. Dismissed. Oboro, with me. I want to waste as little time on this mutiny issue as possible. Each second is a second the Garleans advance, after all.”

Oboro bowed and followed the violet-clad Raen through the port and towards the garden where Lord Hien’s soldiers had roosted a few giant falcons and their riders for ferrying messages. They would borrow them for now to reach the offending warship quickly.

Yugiri was silent the entire way, for as she walked back through the crowds of people awaiting their chance for escape, her heart was alight. She had already left behind her first home, and now that she had pledged her life and loyalty to another, she would have to leave it again. And this time, she would have to shepherd the hopes and lives of hundreds to a bright future that she could not even guarantee. 

She had her doubts in herself, and in Lord Hien’s plan. But she would cast them aside for now. Yugiri knew that she could do nothing but fight for these people. They were her people now. Perhaps not by blood, but by oath and mutual struggle. She would lead them forward, until they found safety from the Empire, or they had to return her to the sea from which she came.

**Author's Note:**

> Ever since my WoL met her in ARR, Yugiri has by far been my favorite NPC. Her role as the "Mother of Exiles," leading the Doman Refugees to Eorzea on hopeless journey, is always something I wanted to further explore in a fic.
> 
> In fact, it's the very reason her (JPN) name is my account's namesake.
> 
> If I were to continue or revisit a fic based on one of these challenge entries, this one would likely be it. Please look forward to it!


End file.
